Ok, the last few bullet points were me being silly, but I think you get where I’m coming from. It’s hard to take this opinion piece seriously when the writer didn’t really bother to make a “good” point. As someone who’s experienced anaphylactic shock numerous times growing up (most involving hospital visits), I hardly think that my nut allergy is a product of my parents worrying I could be allergic to things. In fact, it’s because they let me eat whatever the hell I wanted as a young’un that we discovered my little “aversion” to nuts.

While I can’t necessarily argue against certain illnesses and allergies being “all in the mind,” I can’t outright say that that’s the case either. I’ve met people who fit into both sides of the argument and it’s led me to believe that things like this CAN be in the mind and CAN actually exist. And sure, there’s yuppie paranoia and the issue of being “too clean” and “too healthy,” but people like me still do exist and our problems are real.